Maryland WR caps Iowa’s hugely productive recruiting weekend

Iowa was the first scholarship offer for Maryland wide receiver Devonte Young. That probably stuck in the back of his mind when he committed to the Hawkeyes on Sunday.

Young (6-0, 200) was commitment No. 5 last weekend for the Hawkeyes, who hosted a 'Hawkeye Tailgater” event that brought a number of prospects to campus. Iowa began the weekend with 10 commitments, but things heated up Friday evening with commitments from Illinois linebacker Nick Niemann and Chariton tight end T.J. Hockenson.

Young was the fifth commitment when he tweeted Sunday morning, 'I am blessed and excited to announce that I've committed to the University of Iowa to play football.” His North Point High School coach Tom Petre made the trip to Iowa City with Young.

Young, from Brandywine, Md., picked the Hawkeyes over Pittsburgh and Rutgers. Young is the 15th commitment for Iowa's 2016 class, which likely will end up with around 25 commits.

Young camped at Rutgers earlier this month and received an offer based on his performance, which including a 4.51 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

'I was really happy when I got the offer,” Young told HawkeyeReport.com. 'They said I was really competitive, they like my size and liked how I put myself out there on the field and kept it out on the field. They said I had good grades, they had already gone through all that and researched me. They said I was a good match.”

NJ.com covered the Rutgers camp and wrote 'Young looked huge. He's 6-foot tall and has to be closing in on 200 pounds with the muscular nature of his frame. He looks more like a linebacker than wide receiver, but used his frame to seal defenders away from the football and make tough grabs in traffic. Young also holds offers from Iowa and Pitt.”

Iowa identified Young early and stayed in contact.

'I did a background check on them and they have good academics there, so I can have a backup plan,” Young said. 'Their ability to send players to the NFL has really got me interested. They are a good team and they have a strong bond toward each other.”

The Hawkeye Tailgater had 16 prospects in attendance, including offensive linemen Cole Banwart and Spencer Williams, running back Toren Young and safety Amani Hooker, all of whom had previously committed to the Hawkeyes.

Joining Young in committing this weekend were Niemann (brother of current Iowa linebacker Ben Niemann), Hockenson, linebacker Amani Jones and defensive end Austin Schulte.

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